11/16/12

She would walk in, book in hand, wearing a purple fleece poncho and a smile.

And I would smile back, although I didn't talk to her much. [<-- haha]

I don't ever remember officially meeting Amanda...I was about 13 and she was 10,
and her brother had their piano lessons after ours on Fridays, so I would see her walk in each week but I barely talked to her.

[^ she signed this in my autograph album years ago, so cute]

Her family lives in the same area as ours and homeschools [like us], so over time we got to know each other better through different activites,
and one of them was a homeschool band we did for several years that she and her brother were involved in.

They also took private lessons from my dad, so while her brother had his, I would always talk to Amanda.

Seriously, I think that's the thing we do best...talk.

It's a rare occasion where I see Amanda and don't talk to her for 15 minutes [at minimum, no joke]

honestly, if I counted up all the times I've talked to her it would be months of time--maybe even a year.

but we're not 'talk-on-the-phone' friends, we're 'talk-in-person" about anything and everything friends.

When I was in Texas this summer, I actually called her to talk, which was hilarious because we pretty much never do that. :P

Since I have all brothers, my friends mean a lot to me...and Amanda is almost like a sister in some ways.

[i.e. we buy each other clothes] :)

We share a lot of the same memories--both being involved together in Bright Lights for years, serving at communal meals together,
and doing craft projects together, or when we get together showing each other different things we've made.

[top pic from a homeschool band concert 4ish years ago, bottom pic taken the night we did her senior pictures]

funny how we see each other all the time, and then if I go without seeing her for a few days I feel Amanda deprived. :P

I saw her last Friday and Saturday, and knew I would see her Monday night, but not Sunday

[bummer it could have been 4 days in a row]

I sent her a text on Sunday that said

"haha so I feel Amanda deprived and it's only been one day since I've seen you haha :P"

[don't ask me why the haha's in that text are like bookends...I guess I say haha too much]

she replied back with a picture of herself and told me to send her one so we could say we "saw" each other that day. :P

she's super creative.

like the type where if we're working on the same project, I make something I think is creative,
and then look at what she made, and of course its way better. :)

[I've said it before, but she is an amazing seamstress, and the creative force behind MoriahMade]

since I've been swamped with shoots this fall [2-4 a week in October--it was crazy!]
she's come over to help me with culling [aka sorting through images]...
which has been wonderful, as lately I feel like I'm always glued to my computer! :)

She's been with me on this whole photography journey from the very beginning..
we both started out with point and shoots...
and then she got a Canon rebel, and shortly thereafter I did too.

one night two years ago she said to me, "we should do a shoot together."

now I had never done a photoshoot before...like never ever.
I had taken pictures of my flowers and my brothers, but never an actual shoot shoot [<-- haha]

so we went out on a fall day over two years ago armed with our little point + shoots and some props and took pictures of each other.

here are a few from that day..

so yep, this image was taken with a little red samsung point + shoot...

and that was the beginning of the stage where I was all into putting textures/text on pictures, ha. :P

she has always loved fall...

and globes/maps... :)

now, I thought this picture was so cool back in the day...

umm, yeah I thought it was cool to just have her feet in focus and face totally blurred,

and add text. yeahhh.
[cringe]

I remember laughing about this when I added the text for fun,
because it seemed "so far away" that she was going to graduate, and she was only 15 or 16 in this picture.

time goes by fast.

I made her this collage and framed it for that Christmas...

two years later on a day in september we went out armed with my camera

[a legit one, no more of the little red p+s baby one, ha]

and some props and I took her senior pictures.

it was awesome.

I love doing pictures for people I know, and getting to do pictures for one of my best friends
was fabulously awesome + epic all wrapped together.
too many of her pictures are my favorites--maybe part of the reason is because I know her so well. :)

Beautiful! I think I say that in all my comments but these like the others are truly beautiful. Love the props, location, and you have the cutest friend. Her smile was truly beautiful. What blessing it is to have those sister friends!

This post is super special. Love the story of your friendship and the photo stories too. ;) I think it's awesome how you incorporated the things that she loves into her pictures. You're right. Her smile really does radiate from within. Absolutely beautiful.

Holy cow girl! Ahhh-mazing!!!!!! 8D Ok so the one that totally made me stop and "jaw drop" is about the 27th image down - right after the one where she's sitting on the rocks: sooooooooo pretty! And I love the map and all the other little personal details you incorporated :)

Like Annie, I met Amanda this summer when we were serving at a BL conference together and I agree- she's such a blessing! =) Love these, Hannah! I was sooo excited to see the full post. =) And the props are amazing. =) One of my top favorites is probably the laughter one...sooo beautiful! =) Blessings, Hannah, and these are amazing (as usual! =).